Category: Workplace, country

Think Like a Leaders: Sharpen Your Skills And Unlock Your Leadership Potential (Book Summary)

“Think Like a Leader” by Dr. Derrick Darden is a book that offers helpful advice and insights to help readers succeed in today’s busy workplace. Dr. Darden emphasizes the importance of attitude in overcoming mental barriers, building confidence, and seeing problems as opportunities for personal growth. Instead of relying solely on strategies, he aims to establish relationships with his readers and inspire them to achieve their full potential. By accepting challenges and believing in oneself, individuals can embark on a transformative path to reach their professional goals. They can use their strengths to navigate the challenging employment landscape.

One way leaders can help people develop their leadership skills is through self-awareness. Awareness of one’s emotions and personality allows individuals to identify strengths, weaknesses, values, and preferences. The S.M.A.R.T. model can also help with goal setting and provide direction and purpose. This leads to self-management, which improves communication, accountability, and conflict-resolution skills – all essential qualities for a leader.

Once leaders have established a strong foundation in the workplace, they should focus on maximizing growth and potential. Leaders can achieve this by finding the right environment and niche. This can be compared to a plant that can only grow in a suitable environment with good nutrition and air quality. Therefore, individuals should adjust their environment to change their circumstances and grow to their fullest potential.

Leaders should also be prepared to navigate workplace challenges using strategies such as effective communication, improving emotional intelligence, and changing their mindset. Leaders who are confident in facing conflicts create an environment where people can learn from and correct each other. Additionally, leaders should ensure that all employees share the same goals and objectives.

One of the key lessons from the book is that leaders should focus on personal development, which leads to growth. They should continue to develop their skills and knowledge to become better leaders, understand the people around them, improve communication, appreciate diversity, and build meaningful connections.

So, embrace the wisdom within “Think Like a Leader” and unlock your full potential in today’s competitive workplace. Available on Amazon eBooks

Dr. D

The Carolyle Destiny Group
https://linktr.ee/TheCarolyleDestinyGroup
#growthmindset #growthanddevelopment #personalgrowthanddevelopment #leadershipdevelopment #leadership #thecarolyledestinygroup

“Finding Balance and Reflection: Lessons from December for Business Professionals”

The holiday season can be an overwhelming and demanding time for leaders. With numerous expectations and competing demands, it’s crucial for them to prioritize their time and resources efficiently. One effective way of doing this is by delegating tasks to others when necessary and setting clear boundaries to prevent burnout. By doing so, business professionals can successfully navigate through this season. Personally, the ability to set clear boundaries brings peace into my life. It’s like giving yourself a gift. I know in my profession, being a go-getter is highly praised, but it can lead to feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. What I do is resist the urge to go full throttle without acknowledging the already present stress. I put the brakes on those desires to move forward. Currently, I practice healthy habits, which may sound redundant, but it works. You only have one body, so take care of it.

Personally, December is a month of reflection for me. I take the last week of December, usually after Christmas, to reflect on a myriad of things. I ask myself some of the following questions reflecting on the current year:

1. What am I grateful for?

2. What were my accomplishments?

3. What were my proudest moments?

4. What were my milestones?

5. How did I increase in personal growth?

6. What were my significant spiritual moments?

7. Did I meet my financial goals, etc.?

It’s important to take some time to reflect on our achievements and lessons learned throughout the year. This will help us set ourselves up for continued growth and success in the coming year. We should also prioritize our own well-being during this time, whether through self-care activities or by spending quality time with loved ones.

In December, we can take the opportunity to learn from leadership and personal development lessons, which can help us approach the new year with renewed energy and a clear vision for the future. We should reflect on our progress, set new goals, and objectives for the upcoming year, and improve our self-awareness. Remember, you have the power to create positive change in your life. Take action now and pave the way for a successful and fulfilling year ahead!” Happy Holidays!

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” – Aristotle

Thank you for reading my post

Dr.D

The Carolyle Destiny Group
https://linktr.ee/TheCarolyleDestinyGroup
#growthmindset #growthanddevelopment #personalgrowthanddevelopment #leadershipdevelopment #leadership #thecarolyledestinygroup

Breaking Free from the Grasshopper Mentality: Empowering Mindset Shifts for Success

How people think can be compared to the behavior of a trapped grasshopper. 
If you put a grasshopper in a jar with a lid over it, it will try to escape by using its powerful legs to smash the jar’s walls. At first, the grasshopper will appear persistent and determined to change its situation. However, after repeatedly trying and failing to escape, the grasshopper will eventually give up and stop trying. Even if you remove the lid, the grasshopper will not
attempt to escape because it has learned that its situation will never change.
This behavior is called the “grasshopper mentality.”

People with a grasshopper mentality have a negative attitude that prevents them from achieving their goals. They see themselves as inferior to others and believe they are incapable of success. They are afraid of taking risks or trying new things.

This mentality is a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you believe that you are not capable of success, then you are less likely to try and more likely to fail. On the other hand, if you believe in yourself and your abilities, you are more likely to try and succeed. And I have to put myself in this scenario, also.

We all must change our mindset and take small steps to overcome the grasshopper mentality. We consistently need to surround ourselves with positive people who believe in us and be willing to work hard. Discarding mental roadblocks and accepting, responding, and adapting to change is also essential.
Remember, we may limit ourselves, not our circumstances in life.

So, if you are struggling with the grasshopper mentality, don’t give up. Keep believing in yourself and keep taking steps forward. The Grasshopper Mentality is something you can learn from. If you trap a grasshopper in a jar with a lid, it will use its legs to try and escape. Over time, it will give up
and stop trying to escape – even if you remove the lid. The grasshopper has become convinced that it will never be able to escape and has settled for its new life. This reminds me of people that I see every day who settle for what life throws at them. This mentality is harmful, and it stops the partakers from
achieving their goals. Those who participate in this mental behavior often see themselves as inferior to others and believe they are incapable of success. They may also be afraid of taking risks or trying new things.

The grasshopper mentality is a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you believe that you are not capable of success, then you are less likely to try and more likely to fail. On the other hand, if you believe that you are capable of success, then you are more likely to try and more likely to succeed. Sounds simple, it
can be.

To overcome the grasshopper mentality, you need to change your mindset.  Self-affirmation and positive thinking can help you do this. You need to believe in yourselves and your abilities. Take small steps and surround yourself with positive people who believe in you. It’s essential to accept, respond, and adapt to change because you will get stuck, stagnant, or dormant if you don’t. You are in the same position without knowing our true potential.
Let go of these mental roadblocks that will limit you, and remember that you may limit yourself, not your circumstances in life.

If you are struggling with the grasshopper mentality, don’t give up. Keep believing in yourself and keep taking steps forward.

Thank you for reading my blog.

Dr. D

The Carolyle Destiny Group
https://linktr.ee/TheCarolyleDestinyGroup
#growthmindset #growthanddevelopment #personalgrowthanddevelopment #leadershipdevelopment #leadership #thecarolyledestinygroup

How to handle conflict and commit to the customer

Derrick C Darden, PhD

There’s an old saying by Sam Walton: “There is only one boss, the customer. Serving the customer is the reason your business exists. In the professional world, your job, whether it’s in sales, services or manufacturing, revolves around the customer.”

However, what happens when there is a conflict between a customer and an employee?

In this short blog, we will talk about how to handle those situations. Unfortunately, they are inevitable, but we have some tips and tricks on how to resolve them.

But before we get to them, I want to tell you a story.

I once heard about a customer who was waiting patiently to be seen by the optometrist to be fitted with new glasses. Her number was finally called, but instead of the optometrist technician waiting directly on her, he decided to answer a question from a customer who hadn’t taken a number at all. “Ironically, this same technician was rude to my husband only a month ago,” the customer remembered.

Now, this customer became infuriated and very loud. Of course, this got the attention of everyone in the store.  In the meantime, the manager was watching this take place in the background and quickly came to the aid of the furious customer. The quickly extinguished the situation. He took care of the customer, and the customer left happy.

As this story illustrates, one way to resolve a conflict to get straight to the source. What is the source? It is the foundation of how this conflict occurred. There’s always a second perception behind the truth. Maybe the customer was irritated by another, unrelated situation. But you assume that all this anger and resentment is geared towards you. Most of the time, the customer doesn’t have a personal problem, but a consumer problem. And, as a consumer, they must get quality and satisfaction.

So avoid complaining to others and whimpering. Avoid negative name-calling and further eroding your relationship with that customer.

Second, dissect the problem, not each other. Attack the problem by looking at it from different angles, then ask the customer to help buy into the solution.

Third, avoid the “blame game.” Instead of wasting your energy in finger-pointing and trying to prove your point (if there is a point to be made), direct your energy to resolving the issue at hand.

Here are some other tips on how to resolve a conflict with a customer:

1.      Listen to your customer’s concerns, get an understanding of what is being said, take off the filters. Listen with both ears, and speak once.

2.      Remember the golden rule: Do onto others as you want them to do unto you. You cannot judge someone. Put yourself in that customer’s shoes. As the saying goes, you can’t judge a person until you walk a mile in their shoes.

3.      Understanding is key. Understand why the conflict happened. What are some of the causes? Never assume that these things always happen.

4.      Lastly, to fix the conflict, go to the customer and make things right between you two. Re-establish your relationship and earn back their trust.

I hope this article will help you with your decision making. And remember – without conflict, life would be boring!

Different Working Cultures in the USA, United Kingdom, and Australia

 

Starting a new job is always daunting, so it helps to have some idea what to expect—especially if you’re working abroad. You may be confident in your ability to do the work, but what about fitting into a foreign workplace? Learning the language is crucial, of course, but it’s only part of the picture. Countries such as the UK, the USA, and Australia all speak English . . . but they’re so different in other ways that they frequently baffle each other. Obviously, no two workplaces—let alone two individual human beings—are the same. Not all Americans are workaholics and not all Brits are shy about telling you what they think. That said, if you’re thinking of working in one of those three countries, here are some cultural differences to keep in mind . . .

If your British boss says “By the way, perhaps you could make these changes?” then you’d better make them. If they call something “a bit disappointing,” you should be very concerned. Understatement can be confusing and frustrating to people from cultures that prefer to communicate more directly. But from the British perspective, telling someone bluntly what you want them to do feels arrogant and aggressive—they’d rather leave room for you to pretend it was your idea all along.

In an Australian workplace, you probably won’t have much trouble figuring out what your colleagues actually mean. Communication is usually direct, even blunt . . . once you get to the point. Australians are often uncomfortable with overt displays of authority, and have their own ways of avoiding the possibility of being seen as too pushy. It’s common to spend a good fifteen minutes at the start of a meeting talking about anything other than work. You’ll also encounter a lot of slang and plenty of swearing.

You don’t have to do much reading between the lines in a USA setting either—direct questions and literal statements are the norm, and there’s no lingering on other topics before getting down to business. But if something goes wrong, Americans are less likely to be blunt about it—they’ll explain the problem, but they’ll try to “wrap” it in positives too. The focus on optimistic, upbeat communication is also key to how Americans expect you to talk about yourself.

Despite their other differences, both Britons and Australians are uneasy about self-promotion. Not so in the USA, where making sure your accomplishments are recognized is a necessary skill.

Office Romances

Each country’s attitude towards love in the workplace varies, with the USA the most strait-laced, Australia the most easygoing, and the UK somewhere in between. One-third of American businesses have policies prohibiting romances between team members, and one in ten won’t even tolerate relationships between workers from different departments. Such rules are rare (even, arguably, illegal) in the UK and Australia, though some UK workplaces will expect you to disclose relationships to a manager. In Australia, so long as it doesn’t interfere with your work, you should be fine.

Dress Codes

Norms in the UK and USA are fairly similar, at least as far as differences in climate allow. Some industries, such as law and banking, are more formal, with suits, tailored garments, and somber colors still the norm. In more creative industries there’s an increasing trend towards more casual wear. You should still probably dress conservatively at your interview and on your first day to be on the safe side, but don’t be surprised to see t-shirts, jeans, and sneakers when you get there.

You should err on the side of caution to begin with in Australia too—but you’ll rarely be expected to wear a tie or a suit jacket. And when small, creative workplaces get casual, they sometimes get very casual—you may even see bare feet!

Work/Life Balance

Given their reputation for being tightly wound, it may be surprising that it’s the British who are most likely to go home on time and least likely to complain if you’re late. They also have the longest holidays and the most paid sick leave (although less of both than many neighboring European countries.) But perhaps it’s partly down to their long commutes: the average Briton spends 54 minutes getting to work each morning—it’s just 29 minutes for Australians and 23 for Americans. Meanwhile, Australia may be famous for being “laid-back,” but lateness is frowned upon, as is rushing out the door as soon as your shift is technically over.

Of the three, the USA expects the longest working hours, and there’s no legal requirement for employers to provide any paid time off or sick leave, although private sector workers do receive an average of 15 days off.

Whether you consider America’s “very hardworking” self-image accurate will depend on where you come from—plenty of nations work longer hours, including South Korea, Greece, and Russia! The payoff is the potential for higher earnings—an American senior manager can earn almost twice what an equivalent worker in the UK can expect.

Kaplan International

Blogsite: dcdardentalks.com